Why Choose an IRF?
There are often several options when it comes to rehabilitation. Outpatient PT and OT, in home care, but we are focused on Inpatient Rehabilitation [IRF] and the advantages as well as some things patients may consider negative. IRFs may be their own freestanding facility, but often they are a special unit within a hospital. No one, well maybe some people, so let's say few people enjoy extended stays in any hospital setting. One of the main reasons to consider an IRF is the 24 hour care they provide as well as a wide range of Physical therapy and occupational therapy tools, devices, DME, and personnel to help you in your recovery.
When comparing IRFs and Skilled Nursing Facilities [SNFs] a 2019 study of nearly 100,000 stroke patients found that IRFs led "substantially improved physical mobility and self-care function compared with rehabilitation in SNFs" [1]. Demographics of the study are provided in the image below.
IRFs also usually provide more intense and longer physical therapy [PT] and occupational therapy [OT] sessions. They also typically have speech pathologists to aid in speech recovery, often an issue with stroke and/or traumatic brain injuries [TBI] patients. Having gone through this myself, due to a brain tumor, I would say having staff available made a large difference and hastened my personal recovery quite a lot. Having people check on you and encourage you to go through the exercises tended, for me at least, to be easier than when I was alone. Being reminded versus having to remember, especially under those conditions, was very helpful.
Some of the reasons to choose outpatient or other options could be costs (IRFs can be expensive), mental health difficulties due to setting (most people would prefer to be home), and locations (there may not be many or any near you).
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